Taste Android 2.0 'Eclair' From Your Own Computer

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Taste Android 2.0 'Eclair' From Your Own Computer

If you’d like to explore the latest version of Android, aka Eclair, you can wait until Verizon starts selling the Motorola Droid, which is scheduled to be unveiled Wednesday. Or you can download the free Android 2.0 software development kit, which includes a spiffy emulator.

Google made available its latest software development kit for Eclair on Tuesday and the emulator bundled inside allows anyone to explore the upcoming features of Android.

The emulator mimics the Android OS. Developers use it to test their applications so they don’t have to use a handset to see every single change. But you can use it to get an idea of what's inside Eclair. (Hint: It's not a creamy filling.)

Every phone is different, so the emulator is a general representation. You can explore the entire OS, from browsing the web to making a mock phone call.

There are also quite a few updates and added features found in Eclair, including: